You might have read the title of this post and though, hey? How is staying motivated in Winter any different from any other time of the year? Oh man, it is. The nights are dark and long in Winter, living in a cold student house is the least glamorous of environments and sometimes, frankly, I just can't be assed. You can't pretend you haven't been there too!

Especially when it gets dark at 4pm I struggle to continue working, or to even start when it feels like I may aswell have stayed in bed all day but Winter is almost over my friends, Spring is only a month (or two) away. We can push through and get this work done before the blissful summer nights roll around to carry us and our coursework into the sunset.

It was Alex's birthday the other day and we chilled hard, had a drink at the end of the day and then ended up staying awake until 4am for the millionth time. We weren't so hungover as we were tired but everyone knows that there's not much a fry-up can't fix, and being vegan doesn't mean missing out! Here's a super simple recipe to replace your scrambled eggs and sausage if you're trying to kick the meat.

My blog is usually pretty full of sunshine and a chill place to be, but there sometimes comes a day when I really need to sit down and properly chat about what's in my head. I'm not a politician or scientist but there are a couple of issues and events that I've been paying most of my attention to over the last few months, that I feel need sharing with you now more than ever.

I think in Winter, it's nice to go for colder colours in my make-up as my complexion is so much paler than it is in the summer (not that I ever really tan). My freckles go into hiding and my favourite wooly jumpers come out, along with the shimmeriest greys and blues of the season.

The Big Smoke* is a palette I've been dipping into a few times a week for that colder winter make-up that makes you look fierce as hell, when it's freezing outside and the wind turns your cheeks pink. It's a 12 shade palette (including one primer, a double ended brush and a mirror) with a range of colours from stone-grey to khaki green, bowie lookin' purple and aluminium metallics. Three of the shades in SEVENTEEN's sleekly designed palette are actually creams, which are my favourite right now!

I've always been more of a warm-toned eyeshadow kind of gal, but at the moment I can't get enough of blending a little cool grey into almost every look I do.

Everyone has their own reasons for modifying their body, from lip fillers to split tongues and tattoos- ain't nothing wrong with any of it, as long as it's not harmful to anyone else (and how could it be).

Hello lovely readers! SO, I've decided to bring back the weekly Sunday Post series- though you might not have noticed it was gone. Basically my Sunday posts were a day in the week where the post would be pretty chill, not discussing anything too heavy, just something to catch up on with your morning coffee. My last one was in October, so it has been a while. Bare with me while I get it back on it's feet!

I headed home for Christmas in the middle of December and left last week after bawling my eyes out for a good hour, half because some days my hormones like to get crazy and half because as much as I can never wait to get back to uni, I always miss being around home so much!

On days when the cold outside is biting at my nose and fingers, there's nothing better to warm me up than a cup of tea and a bath. Seriously, I thought it was cold in October but this week I learned that the Halloween chill was nothing compared to the bitterness of January! Luckily I have a kettle on hand, candles and a steaming bathtub full of Lush until I head back to uni.

The other day I visited a temple with my family (so beautiful, I might have to write a post on it) and around the deity statues and prayer bowls were offerings of organic food and drinks. These teas were scattered around and I've actually tried them before but since then, Pukka have renewed their range a little and there are some brews in here that I've not even heard of! The whole box was £2.50, containing 20 bags of 5 different gorgeous tea blends and infusions.

To be a glittery goddess one must first bathe like a glittery goddess! I was given the Northern Lights bath bomb set for Christmas by my boyfriend's sister, Emily (thank you again Em!) and thought it would be rude to not show you guys how insanely gorgeous they are. They really smell as heavenly as they look. The set is made of three bath bombs; Northern Lights, Shoot for the Stars and Intergalactic. Shoot for the Stars and Intergalactic both have body glitter in them that sits on top of the water like stars.

A few of my friends and family might think I've gone crazy, but theres a lot more sense in going vegan to me, than there is to eating meat. Fear not, I'm not here to lecture you.I have no qualms with meat eaters or vegetarians (unless they shove their diet in my face and hate on my choices).

I can't pinpoint exactly when I went vegan as it's been more of a 'phase out' period for me up until a few months ago. Occasionally I might unintentionally ingest something that has an animal-product in but it's nearly impossible to be totally vegan in a world where tomato soup contains milk. C'mon man. Being vegetarian for almost a year before turning vegan meant that this change was quite easy for me and aside from that, obvious!

In 2008 I made eighty-one resolutions. Needless to say, I stuck to about... zero of them. "It's time to start setting more realistic goals!" I said to myself and then made a list of every single thing about my life that I wanted to improve or change. Since then I've slowed down a lot, separated my goals into achievable parts and realised that just because January 1st rolls around doesn't mean that a sliver platter with my hopes and dreams on comes with it, though I wish it did!

I thought I'd share with you my blogging goals for the upcoming year as it's going to be nice (or terrible) looking back on them a year from now. Here goes:

Mood

Scarlet State is a PR friendly blog and all sponsored posts, sample reviews or products I have been sent will be declared with an asterisk (*) or /and a small disclaimer at the end of the post. The opinions in these posts are mine only and I will only ever give my honest opinion.

All products featured from June/July 2016 are cruelty-free and vegan. Posts before this contain products possibly not suitable for vegans! For my full disclaimer, see here.